But they do not agree with her position or insistence that God's blessing of marriage be reserved only for the union of a man and a woman.

“The Christian message is about freedom – freedom of speech and freedom of choice,” said church member Phil Ouellette.

Metropolitan church board member Bud Cheetham said same-sex marriage should not be scorned under the guise of spirituality.

“Gay people experience the same sense of love as anyone else,” he said. “And they would like to show the same commitment with marriage.”

Passion for and against gay marriage has been running high since the passage of Proposition 8, a ballot measure that amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

The initiative has been challenged at the state Supreme Court with supporters saying citizens have the right to change the constitution and opponents saying it improperly revised the constitution and denies basic rights.

Prejean said she thought the marriage question was an unfair ambush and cost her the Miss USA crown.

Prejean has made a string of TV appearances since the pageant, becoming a bigger celebrity than the woman who actually won, Kristen Dalton of North Carolina.

She chatted with Matt Lauer on NBC's Today show and Fox's Sean Hannity. When she introduced one of the performers at Thursday night's annual gospel-music gala, the Dove Awards, in Nashville she received a standing ovation.

The House of Representatives in Alabama passed a resolution praising her. Ron Prentice, chairman of the Proposition 8-backing group ProtectMarriage.com, sent out a letter thanking her “for knowing the truth about marriage and standing up for it.”

Prejean told interviewers she might one day be interested in politics.

And had she been asked about the federal bailout of banks and automakers, she said she would not have had a ready answer.

“I'm not sure what I would have said. Whatever popped into my head.”

Staff writer John Wilkens and Union-Tribune researchers Denise Davidson and Merrie Monteagudo and The Associated Press contributed to this report.